The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In scaling and cleaning teeth, often clinicians depend on unpowered or hand operated scalers to scrape calculus from the teeth. Use of these instruments requires back and forth motion of the fingers, wrists and even the entire arm that may lead to fatigue, and if persisted, to potential nerve and tendon damage. To prevent fatigue, dental instruments have been made lighter to reduce the pressure of movement from the wrist area. There is a limit to weight reduction and furthermore, the need for the hand/arm movement still exists.
Other improvements have been directed to the use of powered dental instruments such as ultrasonic or vibrating scalers. This technology was first developed for drilling teeth and was later adapted to cleaning them. Use of powered instruments eliminates the need for the back and forth movement of the hand and/or entire arm. However, these instruments also require specialized training and are generally expensive and relatively heavy. Furthermore, ultrasonic instruments may adversely affect the teeth or comfort of the patient if improper power settings are used. The industry is desirous of a solution by which both the dexterity/control obtainable by an unpowered instrument, and fatigue relief obtainable by a powered instrument, may be realized.